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One concept that regularly provokes questions from new board members is shared governance, which can exasperate even veteran trustees trying to deal with what they see as a problem in need of immediate attention. "It’s a conundrum, an enigma, for board members," says Susan W. Johnston, executive vice president of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. "The nature of faculty work is also puzzling, and that’s not insignificant, because faculty are an important part of how an institution delivers its mission."

Miles voiced his observations during a webinar organized recently by the Washington, D.C.-based Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB). The webinar consisted of a panel discussion among educators about seven recommendations in an AGB-commissioned report titled “Consequential Boards: Adding Value Where it Matters Most.”

Boards can no longer serve as rubber stamps for university presidents, said former Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen, who chaired the National Commission on College and University Board Governance, which recommended in November that boards take a larger role.

In a recent op-ed, AGB President Rick Legon writes, "Recently, we've seen policy leaders in a number of states propose draconian cuts to their investments in public higher education. And while all of our institutions are looking to contain costs and invest wisely, some of the proposals appear to be more about politics than they are about smarter higher education policy."

Today the institution has made social justice a key component of its mission. “By staying the course with their mission, staying with women — and here it would be particularly minority women — that’s a social-justice kind of outreach that not a lot of Catholic places have had the opportunity to do or have chosen to do,” says Tom Longin, a senior consultant to the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges.